I just want to quickly share something that I have worked on for a few colleagues! We've been busy setting up Daily 5 in a few classrooms. Each teacher has their own way to organize their groups (I've found it is a really personal thing). But, one thing we found was true. A lot of the really nice pictures/posters for Daily 5 didn't look like our students. So, we talked about it and I created these cute signs for them!

You can, of course, get them for FREE by clicking here! Or, by going to our Freebie section on our website.

Here is how one teacher created her rotations. She wanted the same groups to move in the same order. She also didn't want to do Work on Writing because they already do Writer's Workshop and write during her guided reading time.

If you like this smaller version of the posters, I have included them here to download too!

Hope this helps you personalize your Daily 5 for you and your students!

I can't believe the first marking period is wrapping up and conferences are already here! Is your year going as fast as ours?

Tim's team is working this week on setting up Student-led Conferences (I've done them in my elementary classroom for a few years now) and we'd love to share with you what they are working on!

So, let's look at the pages!

The students begin by completing their pages that serve as their guide during the conference. It really helps the students to have something that can guide them as they speak with family members. It helps keep them on track; especially if they are nervous. They set this page aside as they read/show the other pages in the folder.

These two pages are for the student's strengths and things they think they need to work on (a nice way to say weaknesses!).

This is my FAVORITE page. It also is a huge favorite of the families! We do a lot of hands-on activities that can't necessarily be sent home (ie we DON'T do a lot of worksheets/bookwork). So, I love to take pictures of the students working and then they explain to their family what they are working on.

Since conferences are ALL about the class work, students choose 3 assignments that they are especially proud of. Usually I have a pile of work that I have saved; big projects, assessments or other items that I think are important. I do let students choose any class work, but I like to narrow it down a little bit. If a student wants to showcase something that is not suggested by me, then we just have a quick conversation why. It keeps some of the impulsive kids from choosing last night's homework because it's the last thing on their mind, or they can find it quickly!

What do parents always want to know at conferences? How is Suzie or Johnny behaving? I LOVE for the students to own their behavior and mark this page! Often times, the students are harder on themselves than I would be. It's also really interesting to hear their explanations.

If you and your school use Common Core then you know that Speaking and Listening are a huge part of the new standards! I use this rubric to grade the conference.

When a student walks into the classroom their folder is waiting at my guided reading and math table. It looks just like this and then they can take it to their table area (or home spot it is called in our room) and begin their conference.

I also include data from my district and their report cards. It is listed on the agenda but for privacy reasons I didn't include those pages in this explanation!

I hope you give student-led conferences a shot. I work in a low-income inner city school and for 2 years in a row we had 100% attendance and I fully believe it was due to the student's leading their own conference!